(a) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to toy building blocks and in particular to interconnecting blocks which provide multiple connection means which are particularly suitable for constructing polyhedron or other geometric shapes.
(b) Description of the Prior Art
Toy building blocks of many different configurations are of course very well known and popular and have always been one of the most popular toys in a wide variety of cultures. The building blocks take many different forms and some of these forms have become extremely well known in association with their respective trademarks. The blocks employ various interconnection means to permit them to be snapped, or otherwise held, together in a fixed relationship in order to build structures.
Building toys also exist which employ hinged connections between the parts and a number of building toys employ connector pieces which permit structures to be assembled from larger framing pieces.
It is believed that the most pertinent such toy building blocks are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,527,201, patented Jun. 18, 1996, by the present inventor, Paul T. Maddock. That patent provided a toy construction kit with interconnecting holding means, and included a plurality of building pieces of various configurations, including building pieces each having six faces, each one of the six faces having interconnection means which was configured for direct connection to complementary interconnection means on other building pieces. The interconnection means in at least one of the faces included an aperture defined therein which was particularly sized and shaped to receive a connector member in the kit which was either a planar, essentially rectangular cross-section elongate element or a planar, essentially rectangular cross-section tongue integral with and extending from another building piece. The other faces each had other interconnection means, including at least two of the following: A pin which was parallel to a face of the piece which was particularly sized to engage a corresponding sleeve on another piece, for hinged connection such that one piece may rotate with respect to another piece; or a sleeve parallel to a face of the piece, which was particularly sized to engage a corresponding pin on another piece, for hinged connection such that one piece may rotate with respect to another piece; or a male dovetail on a face of the piece which was particularly sized to engage a corresponding female dovetail on another piece such that one piece slidably engages with another piece; or a female dovetail on a face of the piece, which was particularly sized to engage a corresponding male dovetail on another piece such that one piece slidably engaged with another piece; or a tongue of rectangular cross-section projecting from a face of the piece which was particularly sized to engage one of the apertures.
Among the prior toy block systems which may be relevant to the toy blocks of this invention are the following:
U.S. Pat. No. 3,657,838, patented Apr. 25, 1972 by R. Hanning et al. Some of the toy blocks taught by that patentee included corner pieces in the form of hollow rectangle parallelepiped blocks which had parallel-disposed, dovetail-shaped grooves, while other such toy blocks had parallel-disposed, dovetail-shaped ribs, while still others had both parallel disposed dovetail-shaped grooves and parallel disposed dovetail-shaped ribs. In addition, construction rods were provided which had dovetail-shaped projections at each end. Connection members were also provided which had such a cross-section that they were at least partly insertable into hollow spaces of the corner pieces. The construction rods were lockable by means of holding members.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,423,465, patented Dec. 27, 1983, by W. Teng-Ching et al. That patent taught cubic blocks which were used to assemble an electronic circuit. The structure of these blocks included a pair of dovetail-shaped recesses in one pair of its outer opposite surfaces and a pair of dovetail-shaped projections on another pair of its outer opposite surfaces, to provide four block-engaging surfaces or four joints. A plurality of blocks could thereby be put together by bringing a recess into union with a projection.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,775,046 patented Jul. 7, 1998 by D. J. Fanger et al. That patent provided modular construction units as L-shaped or U-shaped or open-ended rectangular parallelepiped boxes. Each of the members was provided with an array of cooperating dovetails and dovetail-shaped keyways. These elements were closely spaced so that a pair of such members can be meshed together and be locked against motion in two directions. Specially located engaging elements along the length of the construction units or the sides of the units made therefrom allowed mated construction members to be translated relative to each other as desired, even if one construction member was mated therewith, and bridged across two facing construction members, thus exhibiting translational symmetry. They also facilitate the rotation in place of any units made from a plurality of construction members, thus exhibiting rotational symmetry.
There is also a series of patents by Fischer Tecknik, namely: U.S. Pat. No. 3,456,413, patented Jul. 22, 1969 by A. Fischer; U.S. Pat. No. 3,811,219, patented May 21, 1974 by A. Fischer; U.S. Pat. No. 4,035,977, patented Jul. 19, 1977 by A. Fischer; U.S. Pat. No. 4,109,409, patented Aug. 29, 1978 by A. Fischer; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,171,591, patented Oct. 23, 1979 by A. Fischer; which all teach interlocking toy building blocks which include cooperation between dovetail ribs and dovetail grooves, with or without the use of locking members of rectangular or cylindrical shape.
In addition, there is a series of patents by Connector Set Toy Company and/or Connector Set Limited Partnership, namely: U.S. Pat. No. 5,137,486, patented Aug. 11, 1992, by J. L. Glickman; U.S. Pat. No. 5,199,919, patented Apr. 11, 1993, by J. L. Glickman; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,350,331, patented Sep. 27, 1994, by J. L. Glicknan; which all teach toy construction systems which interlock by means of struts which have flanged ends and a socket in the toy construction block.
Furthermore, there are also a number of patents, namely: U.S. Pat. No. 1,898,297, patented Feb. 21, 1933, by N. B. Fox; U.S. Pat. No. 2,472,363, patented Jun. 7, 1949, by J. G. Blackington; U.S. Pat. No. 2,619,829, patented Dec. 2, 1952, by B. L. Tatum; U.S. Pat. No. 2,907,137, patented Oct. 6, 1959, by R. R. M. Ehrmann; U.S. Pat. No. 3,558,138, patented Jan. 26, 1971, by J. H. Lemelson; U.S. Patent No. 3,791,090, patented Feb. 12, 1974, by A. B. Kniefel; U.S. Pat. No. 4,007,555, patented Feb. 15, 1977, by N. Sasaoka; U.S. Pat. No. 4,202,131, patented May 13, 1949, by V. J. Poler; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,764,143, patented Aug. 16, 1988, by A. Gat et al; which all disclose various interlocking toy blocks whose interlocking is primarily by means of dovetail grooves and dovetail ribs.
There are also a number of patents, namely: U.S. Pat. No. 1,281,856, patented Oct. 15, 1918, by G. E. Shaw; U.S. Pat. No. 1,883,214, patented Oct. 18, 1918, by E. B. Wilson et al; U.S. Pat. No. 2,633,662, patented Apr. 7, 1953, by W. 0. Nelson; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,827,177, patented Aug. 6, 1974, by G. Wengel; which all teach toy construction sets in which the elements thereof are held together by cooperation between planar members and grooves in cube-like, cylindrical or disc-like connectors.
There are also two patents, namely: U.S. Pat. No. 2,028,229, patented Jan. 21, 1936, by H. P. Luhn; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,833,856, patented May 30, 1989, by J Zwagerman; which teach toy construction sets in which the individual elements are connected by "H"-cross-section connectors.
There are also a number of patents, namely: U.S. Pat. No. 3,624,954, patented Dec. 7, 1971, by G. Van Der Veken; U.S. Pat. No. 3,670,449, patented Jun. 20, 1972, by J. L. Lemnkin et al; U.S. Pat. No. 4,744,780, patented May 17, 1988, by L. S. Volpe; U.S. Pat. No. 4,758,196, patented Jul. 19, 1988, by T- H. Wang; U.S. Pat. No. 5,575,701, patented Nov. 19, 1996, by P. Hantman; U.S. Pat. No. 5,707,268, patented Jan. 13, 1998, by K. S. Outman; and British Patent No. 941,847, patented Nov. 13, 1963, by G. Stock; which all provide toy construction sets in which the individual units are held together through means cooperating with holes in the toy blocks.
There are also two patents, namely: U.S. Pat. No. 3,626,632, patented Dec. 14, 1971, by R. E. Bullock, Jr.; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,100,359, patented May 31, 1992, by F. M. Gorio; which provide toy construction sets in which the blocks are united by cooperating shaped members, as well as U.S. Pat. No. 4,214,403, patented Jul. 29, 1980, by J. N. Knudsen, which teaches a hinge element having cooperating pivot pins and bushings.
Thus, as noted above, many prior art building block toys have many obvious attractions and should not be criticised. However, there is always a demand for new building block toys which may offer different possibilities from those of the prior art. It is believed that the construction sets available on the market can be made still more versatile. For example, a wall may be constructed similar to bricks with the most popular blocks with interconnection on two faces. Although there are special pieces to expand in other directions, the blocks were not provided with an alternative for making a framed structure. On the other hand, while some construction sets provided good framing features, the individual pieces could not interlock to form a solid wall. It is also believed that most toy kits are limited since they could not be used to construct the many attractive polyhedral and spherical shapes shown in some geometry books.